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1 Sudden Selector’s Guide to Anthropology Pre-print 7/12/2019 2 Foreword Is subject-area knowledge for collection development still necessary or even important in these days of tight budgets, vendor selection, patron-driven acquisitions and nearly-instant access? My answer continues to be a resounding “Yes!” It is vital for selectors to have an understanding of how their subjects “work,” in terms of research, publication, and selection; selectors link a library’s collection to its local audience, meeting the needs of researchers and faculty as well as the broader community. Selection by vendors, in the form of approval plans, can indeed create workflow efficiencies, but it takes a knowledgeable selector to set up an effective plan that can account for local needs as well as budgetary and space restrictions. The time saved by such plans allows selectors to both hone the margins of a collection to strengthen it, and to conduct increasingly valuable liaison work with user groups. Patron-driven collections fill immediate demands and can indicate trends, though a selector needs to keep track of the overarching goals of a collection—something individual patrons rarely, if ever, think about. Thus, the need for selectors familiar with their disciplines as well as the production and dissemination of information in it is imperative. The ongoing purpose of the Sudden Selector series is to provide current information on selection in specific subject areas, to assist selectors in creating a manageable process in unfamiliar subject territories. Helene Williams Editor, Sudden Selector’s Guide Series March 2012 Updated March 2018 3 Preface On the Sudden Selector’s Series The Sudden Selector series was created by the Collection Management Section (formerly Collection Management & Development Section) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services division of the American Library Association. It is designed to help library workers become acquainted with the tools, resources, individuals, and organizations that can assist in developing collections in new or unfamiliar subject areas. These guides are not intended to provide a general introduction to collection development but to quickly furnish tools for successful selection in a particular subject area. However, there are many tools that are pertinent for all subject areas and although not explored in detail in the guides, the following should be mentioned. Guides to Collection Development Evans, G. Edward, and Margaret Zarnosky Saponaro. Collection Management Basics, 6th ed. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2012. This text serves as an authority on all areas of collection development, from user assessment, collection development policies, evaluation, deselection, and legal issues. This popular resource, in its many editions, has served as a standard text in collection development training. Johnson, Peggy. Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, 4th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2018. This guide by one of the key authorities in collection development covers many of the same areas as Evans and Edward. Johnson provides a comprehensive overview of the issues such as policies, planning, developing and managing collections, marketing and outreach activities, and collection analysis. The writing is engaging and its information is useful for both beginning professionals and seasoned selectors. Disher, Wayne. Crash Course in Collection Development, 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2014. This title is part of the Crash Course series from Libraries Unlimited, and is aimed toward a new selector without any selection experience or for those with little to no professional experience. Although the general concepts covered may be useful for beginning academic librarians, it is focused toward the needs of public librarians. 4 Gregory, Vicki L. Collection Development and Management for 21st Century Library Collections: An Introduction, 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2018. This approachable guide provides brief introductions to the major issues and workflows in collection development and management, and also includes examples of vendor lists, an assessment report, and an e-resources license. Burgett, James, John Haar, and Linda L. Phillips. Collaborative Collection Development: A Practical Guide for Your Library. Chicago: American Library Association, 2004. This guide provides first-hand experience and advice for successful collaborative collection building. The guide provides models and strategies for research, budgeting, promotion, and evaluation. Alabaster, Carol. Developing an Outstanding Core Collection: A Guide for Libraries, 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2010. This handbook provides instructions on how to build an adult public library collection from the ground up as well the tools to maintain an existing collection. The guide provides a wealth of resources for public library collection development as well as sample core lists. Review Sources Choice www.ala.org/acrl/choice/ Reviews in Choice magazine, published monthly by the American Library Association, and Choice Reviews Online are targeted to academic library collections and reviews emphasize the importance of the title in collection development and scholarly research. Choice includes approximately 600 reviews (per month) organized by subdiscipline for books, electronic media and internet resources and as well as publisher advertisements and announcements for new and forthcoming publications. Choice Reviews Online provides access to issues from 1998 to the present. There are added features to the online version of the magazine including personalized profiles and title lists and an advanced search screen. Library Journal Book Reviews http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/ Library Journal Prepub Alert http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/category/prepub/ Library Journal magazine provides brief reviews of titles on all topics and is aimed at both public and academic libraries. The reviews provide a brief summary of the title and recommendations for library audience and selection. Reviews are available in print issues of the magazine and online through various databases and as a weekly email for new review title alerts. 5 Booklist www.ala.org/offices/publishing/booklist www.booklistonline.com/ Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association, publishes more than 8,000 recommended-only reviews of books, audio books, reference sources, video, and DVD titles each year. Booklist also provides coverage of ALA award winning titles and is available online with enhanced content such as advanced searching options and personalized profiles and lists. Publisher’s Weekly www.publishersweekly.com/ This magazine is also available through an online subscription and serves as a trade publication for professionals in the library and publishing fields. Its coverage includes industry news, trends, events and book reviews. More than 7,000 book reviews are published annually and written by both freelance reviewers as well as well-known authors. The reviews are divided by fiction and non-fiction. Electronic Discussion Lists and Web Sites COLLDV-L http://lists.ala.org/sympa/info/colldv COLLDV-L includes issues of acquisition but also covers more broad issues of collection management, such as policy development, deselection issues, and collection evaluation. It is a moderated discussion directed towards library collection development professionals, bibliographers, selectors, and others involved with library collection development. ERIL-L www.eril-l.org/ ERIL-L’s purpose is to cover all aspects of electronic resources in libraries. In addition to collection management librarians, participants include reference personnel, systems librarians, and vendors with topics ranging from usage statistics to product issues to licensing. The list is moderated and archived. Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) Collection Management Section (CMS) www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/cms The purpose of CMS is to contribute to library service and librarianship through encouragement, promotion of, and responsibility for those activities of ALCTS relating to collection management and development, selection, and evaluation of library materials in all types of institutions. The section develops publications, online courses, and other tools for the training and further development of collection management. 6 This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but simply an introduction to some of the resources available for getting up to speed in collection development. As the Sudden Selector guides are subject-specific, most of the above resources are too general for inclusion in the main text. However, personnel responsible for collection development should ultimately be familiar with most of them. Additionally, for the most exhaustive bibliographies for further research, consult the guides to collection development listed above. Doug Litts Smithsonian Institution Libraries American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery Editor, Sudden Selector’s Guide Series 2006–2009 Helene Williams Editor, Sudden Selector’s Guide Series, 2009-2018 Updated 2018 7 Table of contents to come 8 Chapter 1 Welcome to Anthropology Librarianship! An Introduction and Overview Anthropology is arguably the most diverse field in academe. It ranges in focus from archaeology, to evolution and primate studies, linguistics, and observation of current cultural practices. Methodologically, it may include any combination of
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